Aim: To investigate the effectiveness of spiritual interventions in the workplace for different health outcomes through the use of a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Background: Most studies including spirituality in the workplace investigated it at the organisational/business level, while giving a secondary value to the well-being and quality of life of the workers.
Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis carried out on the following databases: SCOPUS, PubMed and Web of Science. Spiritual interventions investigating work-related health outcomes were included. Then, meta-analyses were conducted.
Results: From a total of 2,832 studies, 7 articles were included in the systematic review and 6 in the meta-analysis. Spiritual interventions, as compared to controls, improved the health outcomes of the workers (standard mean difference (SMD), -1.42; 95% CI, -1.98, -0.86; p < .001; I2 = 96%). Subanalyses revealed that yoga was an effective intervention and that stress was reduced by these interventions.
Conclusion: Spiritual interventions in the workplace seem to be effective in improving workers' health. Nevertheless, the high heterogeneity and limited number of studies may hinder more robust conclusions at the moment.
Implications for nursing management: The use of spiritual interventions should be considered in workplaces in order to reduce the stress and other negative outcomes.
Keywords: mental health; spiritual interventions; spirituality; well-being; workplace; yoga.
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.